1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a squeegee means comprising a squeegee device which has a profile strip longitudinally extending therewith and which can be pressed by its squeegee working edge or face against a working substrate (working surface) such as a table, a roller and a material web resting thereon, a conveyor belt, a screen, etc., the squeegee device being pivotable by means of pivot bearings about a squeegee device pivot axis coinciding with the bearing edge or extending in the vicinity of the bearing edge or face, said pivot bearings being located in the axial end regions of the squeegee device pivot axis to fix the position thereof, and in which the profile strip is connected to a part which projects over the working surface in the direction of the profile strip longitudinal extension and is in engagement with a pivot bearing located outside and laterally of the working surface.
Such devices are more particularly used for applying substances to a working surface to be printed or coated. However, they are also used in order to treat a flat substrate such as a web, a flat material portion, a roller or a strip by a stripping or sealing process. By pivoting the squeegee device (especially during the squeegee process) and fixing the squeegee device pivot angle, it is possible to adjust the size of a desired substance space between the profile strip and the working surface upstream of the squeegee element or a desired engagement angle of the squeegee element on the working surface. There must only be a slight or no change to the squeegee bearing edge position, so that the unchanged squeegee device pivot axis position coincides precisely or virtually with the bearing edge.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a known squeegee means(DE-A-22 07 935) a squeegee device comprises a rod, whose two ends are fixed to linkage arms, which are fitted by forkheads in an articulated manner to a shaft. Said device, which as a result of the arrangement of a crank gear requires considerable constructional expenditure, is only suitable for a stripping blade located on the squeegee element. By fixed mounting on the joints, the squeegee element is set in a fixed spacing position relative to the working surface, so as to then press the stripping blade against the working surface accompanied by supporting against the fixed mounted squeegee element by means of an air chamber. For the same set inclination position of the squeegee element a substance gap is influenced in an uncontrolled manner by modifying the air chamber pressure. The rod of the squeegee device must be constructed as a force-actuatable support beam, so that the weight of the squeegee device or forces acting thereon are absorbed by means of the support beam rod and the bearings. Therefore the known squeegee device with the support beam rod must be made in a very robust manner and, due to the connections with the bearings, fitting, disassembly and cleaning are complicated.
DE-OS 2 209 630 discloses a squeegee device which is pivotable about pivot joints located in the extension of the squeegee bearing edge where, much as in the aforementioned device, a lever construction is required with which the squeegee device is fixedly mounted by means of a support element (support beam).
In addition, squeegee devices with a profile strip are known (EP-A1-311 728), which are connected by means of a pivot joint to a retaining element connected to a support beam. In the case of such a squeegee device, special measures are necessary for maintaining the position of the squeegee bearing edge and consequently the complete squeegee device is not very handy due to the pivot joint connected thereto, so that the handling remains unsatisfactory, particularly when installed in the confined space of rotary screens. Handling is particularly difficult if the squeegee device extends over several meters.